


Family Business

by CharitiniCS



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Captain Swan - Freeform, Captain Swan Children, Daddy!Killian, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Mommy!Emma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 12:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19991926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharitiniCS/pseuds/CharitiniCS
Summary: Lately, all five-year-old Hope Swan-Jones is talking about is her desire to become a sheriff when she grows up. On a school holiday, after her insistence, Emma and Killian decide to take her to the sheriff station with them to help. As they soon realize, sheriffing might after all run in the family.Pure captain swan and little Hope fluff





	Family Business

**Author's Note:**

> I had this incomplete fic in my notes for longer than I remember and since I had some free time these days I thought I could finally finish and post it. It’s just a fluffy one shot with Hope being a cute little hurricane.  
> I hope you enjoy it <3

"There’s already a Sheriff Swan-Jones. You can be _baby_ Sheriff Swan-Jones" 

Emma announced, smiling playfully at her daughter who was sitting on her lap at the sheriff’s station’s chair, her legs wrapped around her middle. It was Christmas vacation, meaning that Hope had no school, a fact she loved reminding her parents every moment of every day. 

At quiet days at work like the holidays, Emma and Killian took turns staying home with their daughter. When by any miracle they were both needed at the station, they dropped her off at her grandparents, who spoiled her rotten. 

Hope, though, loved the station, loved the job her parents did with every fiber of her being, so the days she came with them at work weren’t exactly rare. Being sheriff and deputy made mom and dad superheroes in her eyes. Catching bad guys for a living was the coolest thing you could ever do if you asked her, as well as her current aspiration. 

They even wrote it in her “first day of kindergarten” chalkboard. “ _When I grow up, I wanna be: a sheriff”._ Emma assumed she’d change dozens of dream jobs in her mind before she settled for one but for the moment, her baby girl seemed pretty set on it. 

That’s why that day, instead of playing with the toy box they kept for her under Killian’s desk or drawing with her pencils to pass the time, she deemed she was old enough to come to mom and dad’s work to actually help out. 

"I’m not a baby, mommy, I'm a big girl now. I even go to real school." 

Her big, five-year-old girl. They’d definitely make the news for youngest sheriff in the world. Hope folded her arms over her chest and straightened her back in an attempt to look taller. Emma held back a chuckle and smoothed her daughter's blonde locks behind her ears, stroking her cheeks. 

"You might be a big girl but you will always be my baby. That never changes, sorry Sheriff." 

"Yes, it does."Hope’s pout was definitely one of the most adorable expressions Emma had witnessed in her life only close to her husband’s similar one. They both knew her buttons too well for her own good. 

"Wanna bet?" 

Emma started tickling her everywhere, attacking her face with kisses at the same time.Hope’s giggles echoed in the room as she fought to free herself from Emma’s embrace. She had always been super ticklish and she and Killian had tons of fun with it. It’s been a blessing really because before Hope came Emma was the sole victim of Killian’s tickling endeavors.

"Mommy, stop! I will be your baby." Hope said breathlessly and leaned to whisper to her ear. "But only yours. I am still not baby Sheriff." 

Emma let out a chuckle as Hope locked her ‘Killian blue’ (yep, that was a color, she made it up) eyes on her green ones. Killian always said she was a mini Emma through and through,but Emma saw so much of her husband in her. Their eyes always had such a calming effect on her, she knew everything would be okay just by staring at them. 

"Deal."

Emma brought her closer and Hope’s arms instantly wrapped around her neck. She was a cuddler, that one. She assumed all kids were, but Hope was extra cuddly and affectionate, which made it even more of a blessing to be her mom. She could say for sure Killian appreciated it too. Their daughter barely ever left his arms. 

Genetics must have played a big role since Killian was definitely the cuddliest person she had met in her life. Her Captain Hook, breaking all the stereotypes around his name. Okay, truth be told, maybe she was a little bit of a cuddler too. 

Affection ran wild in their little family.

"Hey, are you two actually getting any work done?" 

As if on cue Killian closed the file he was looking at for the better part of the hour to focus on them. "I thought we brought a second sheriff here to help, no?" He raised his eyebrow at Hope. 

Emma rolled her eyes. He loved teasing Hope, he lived for it, lived for her smiles and giggles. When Hope was still a baby their favorite game was her throwing her toys off her high chair just to watch daddy pick them up and bring them back to her.She was clapping her hands and laughing her little heart off as Killian comically bent down, making funny faces towards her. When he returned the toys, Hope was repeatedly poking his nose and stroking his cheeks as a thank you. That was their routine, always making snack time an adventure.

One day Snow was at their house, witnessing the father and daughter interaction. “She doesn’t want that bunny, Killian.” She said goodheartedly as Killian gave Hope back the stuffed toy for maybe the sixth time in a few minutes. Emma just shook her head at her mother, because she just didn’t get it. She herself was curious too at first. When she had asked Killian, his reply was casual, as if he was asked for his own name. “My first purpose in life is to make her laugh, Swan. Always.”

"Deputy Jones.” Emma started. “We are your bosses. You don't get to scold us. You are just jealous because there are no cuddles for you, admit it." 

"Sheriff is right dad-Deputy! If you are being bad we can always use the cell and feed you that ba-, ba.." Emma smiled and leaned to whisper something to her little girl’s ear before Hope nodded. "Baloney."

"Just remember who bakes the best chocolate chip muffins in the house before you do something so cruel and torturous, Hope." 

Drama queen.

"It's Sheriff Swan-Jones to you." 

Both Emma and Killian chuckled at her fake professionalism and she giggled too watching their expressions. She loved teasing her dad as much as he did her. 

"Sheriff? You wound me, little love. And here I thought you wanted to be a deputy like me, which is obviously ‘cooler’, as you say."

"Ugh, Hope, don't listen to your dad. He wished he was the Sheriff."

"You are wrong, Swan. After all, I quite enjoy it when you are bossing me around."

"Hey! I don't -"

"Whatever makes you sleep at night, love." Killian smirked. "Come here Hope, I am gonna let you in on a little secret."

Hope’s face lit up at that and she hopped off Emma's chair to go to her dad. He immediately pulled her onto his lap and she leaned in close so he could whisper to her ear. Emma saw her beam and nod at his words, before announcing :

"I think I am gonna be a Deputy now." 

"Killian Jones. I can't believe you bribed our daughter with muffins to take your side. And you are the one going on about good form."

"How did you-?" 

"Please." She scoffed. "As if I don't know my husband. Or that sneaky little pirate and her sweet tooth."

Hope let out a laugh. "Henry says when you have to pick a side always pick the one that offers the food."

"Tell your brother he is lucky he is too old to get grounded."

Killian stood up, putting Hope on his chair and making his way to Emma. She was sure her pirate wanted to charm his way out of trouble and she offered him a lopsided smile.

"Love, truce?" Killian looked at her with one of his best ‘puppy eyes’ performances and Emma laughed.

"Depends on whether I get muffins or not." 

"Of course, Swan. Tonight. And hot chocolate. And anything else my lady desires." He winked. 

"You mean like pancakes?"

"Obviously."

The sheriff station’s phone ringing interrupted them. Hope started jumping around with glee. “Can I pick it, can I pick it, can I pick it? Pretty please!” 

She loved answering the phone, both at their house and more rarely, at the station. At home, she was usually the first one to run to it, yelling “I have it!” at the top of her lungs. Their baby was such a social butterfly, the times she passed them the phone immediately after answering being very scarce. She usually conversed with whoever was calling for at least five minutes, if not longer in case it was grandma or grandpa or Auntie Elsa. One time they had found her discussing how often dogs “go potty” with someone calling from a satellite tv company, offering them a deal.

“Knock yourself out, bug. It’s probably just grandma asking what we want her to make for dessert.”

“I’ll tell her I want ice cream!” Hope exclaimed, grabbing the phone from Emma’s desk and taking what Emma could call her ‘professional expression.’ “Hello, you’re calling Storybrooke’s sheriff station.” She said, the way she had heard her mom or dad say so many times. 

“It’s Hope!” She said again. 

“Hope, who’s on the phone? Not grandma?” 

Hope shook her head and moved the phone from her ear, covering the speaker with her hand. “It’s Leroy.” She mouthed, before putting the phone back in her ear and nodding to whatever the dwarf was telling her.

Emma sighed. As if Leroy wasn’t their ‘favorite’ sheriff station’s visitor already. They should give him a star for keeping them busy even on the laziest days. She was pretty sure he had the station’s number on quick dial on his cellphone. “You’ll have to give me that one, baby.” She told Hope, who was apparently already deep in conversation. 

“Maybe you put it somewhere and you don’t remember. Oh, maybe it’s hidden below the snow.” Emma noticed Hope rolling her eyes. “Of course I know what ‘sentimental value’ means, I’m five. Daddy and Ilearn big words together. If you wanna know, I’m also practicing for the spelling bee. In March. I don’t know how many. Maybe 50?”

”Hope.” Emma warned her.

“I’ll give you mommy now, and you can tell her, okay? Don’t worry, though. Mommy and daddy are the best sheriffs, we’ll find it.”

Hope passed the phone to Emma, listening to her exasperated “Hey, Leroy.” before walking to her daddy’s arms.

“What did he say, my love?”

“He said he can’t find his garden gnome and he thinks someone stole it. He told me it has sentimental value because it’s supposed to be a figure of his brother, Stelthy?”

“Stealthy, darling. Remember the word? When you do something carefully and quietly as to not be seen?”

“Oh yes, stealthy. So Leroy is upset he can’t find this Stealthy garden gnome. He wants you and mommy to investigate.”

“Something tells me we’ll be late for dinner at grandma’s.”

Emma who had just closed the phone nodded at them. “I think so too. We’ll definitely have to make a stop at Leroy’s on our way to the farm.”

“Aye, love, Hope filled me in with what happened, like the perfect sheriff she is.” He pressed a kiss to Hope’s hair. “I agree with our little lass, though, it’s probably buried under a foot of snow.”

“I seriously wouldn’t cross it out, at this point. But we still have to go.” Emma turned to Hope, asking her even though she knew the answer already. “Baby, do you wanna come or you’d rather we drop you to the farm a little earlier to play with Neal and Leo?”

“I wanna come with you, please.” She said before Emma even had the chance to finish her phrase. “I’ll play with Neal and Leo at dinner.”

“That’s good, little love. I think we could definitely use that extra help.”

“We could use Hope making Leroy all sweet and mellow for us, you mean. She’s the only one who has that inexplicable magical power.”

It was the truth. As grumpy as the man was, in more ways than one, he always cracked a smile when Hope was around. The little girl could make anyone smile. Their little ray of sunshine, as her dad often called her.

“Leroy is nice. His face when he’s angry is so funny.”

“See, she can say stuff like that and get away with it, but if _I_ say Leroy’s angry face is funny he’ll probably chase me down with his axe.”

Hope giggled. “He won’t chase you, mommy.” She contemplated it for a bit before adding. “Maybe he’ll just glare.”

“No one is chasing mommy unless it’s me chasing after her when she steals the remote and pretends I was the one who lost it.”

“It was just one time. And we were watching that documentary about the eating habits of dolphins for one hour. I’ve had enough.”

“It was very educational. For Hope.”

“Who was three months old at the time. Tell me bug, do you remember that bottlenose dolphins consume 4% to 8% of their body weight in food per day?”

Hope raised her eyebrows in question. “What’s a bottlenose?”

“My point exactly. Mommy is right again.” She gave him a smug look which made him chuckle. If anything, at least Emma still on that day remembered the eating habits of bottlenose dolphins, so it couldn’t have been that bad, could it? “Now who is in for some sheriffing?" Emma reached to grab Hope's scarf from the hook they had hung it on in the morning while Killian helped her into her coat. 

"Just one more thing." Killian said as he crouched down to his daughter level. "A very important thing."

His hand went to his shirt where his deputy badge was. He unpinned it from the fabric and held it out to her, smirking when he saw her eyes widening. She always loved staring at it and touching the shiny golden star but she never had the chance to wear it before. 

"You can go to an investigation without your badge now, can you? Are you ready to become Sheriff of Storybrooke?"

"Like mommy." Hope nodded eagerly, looking at her mom with absolute adoration in her eyes. 

Killian looked up at Emma too, offering her a tender smile. "Just like mommy."

He gently pinned the badge on Hope's chest, careful not to pinch her or ruin her shirt. His daughter stood proudly, the biggest smile gracing her lips, reaching for his hand which he happily offered her.

“Thank you.” She told him, her eyes shining. 

"Now it's official." 

"Daddy, I am your boss now." She laughed.

"Aren't you always, little love? My fierce, stubborn lass that has me wrapped around her finger."

He left a kiss to her forehead and stood up, still holding Hope's hand in his own. "Same with your mum."

"You smooth talker, flattery will get you everywhere. But you’re still not avoiding baking those muffins tonight.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, love.”

“Good.”

Emma smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips, grasping Hope's other hand. 

"Can I put the siren on the bug, please?" Hope asked excitedly while bouncing up and down. A siren was hardly needed for an investigation about a lost garden gnome but technically, it wasn’t against the rules either, considering they used the vehicle for a job emergency. What’s good about being the sheriff if you can’t bend the guidelines a bit to make your five-year-old smile?

"I don't see why not." Emma reached the car and leaned to grab the siren they kept under the passenger seat, handing it to Hope. 

"Here you go, baby." She picked her up in her arms so she could reach the top of the car and Hope stuck the siren there, smiling triumphantly. "All set." 

"Mom, Dad, let's go now. We are gonna get late and this is bad form. You know how Leroy can get if we are not pun-ctu-al." She said, taking extra care to pronounce the word correctly before climbing onto her booster seat in the back of the bug and buckling herself up. They had gotten a bigger car with a lot more space for their family a bit after Hope was born but Emma still liked using the bug for sheriffing and occasionally for errands she ran alone. 

Emma smiled and leaned into Killian. "Look at our baby girl, ready to rule this town."

"Or the world. She is, after all, a princess."

"Α bossy one for sure."

"Hmm, I might have come across another princess just like that."

"Oh yeah? I had no idea. Do tell."

"Ι certainly would, my love, but _this_ bossy princess currently glaring at us from the window is gonna take our heads if we delay her more from this crucial mission."

He tugged at her hand and reach to open the door for her.

"Killian." She pulled at his hook, making him face her. 

"Love, what's wrong ?" He asked, concern written across his face. She gave him a reassuring smile.

"Nothing is wrong, it's just...remember at our wedding? When I told you this wasn't a happy ending?"

"You said it was a happy beginning. I remember every single detail, love. How could I ever forget?"

He smiled at her so lovingly she felt her heart flutter. 

"This is what I meant. This-" she gestured between them and then to Hope "-is the happy beginning I was always imagining. Us, Henry, Hope. Our home with the white picket fence and the swing set in the backyard. Our quiet dinners at granny's. Our movie nights when Hope insists on watching Peter Pan again and you pretend to be mad for five seconds before rushing to put the DVD because you just love her giggles. Our breakfasts in bed when you keep teasing me and Hope for our whipped cream mustaches. Our family."

Killian was smiling but his eyes were glistening with unshed tears. He interlaced their fingers and placed them gently on her still flat stomach. 

"Our little bean?"

"Oh yeah, little bean is definitely included." She squeezed his hand and with her free arm reached to caress his face. "Ι love you. And Henry and Hope and little bean." 

Killian closed his eyes and leaned into her touch. "Me too, love. So much."

They heard a knock at the window and pulled apart. Hope was frowning at them. Killian smiled at her before scratching behind his ear. 

"We are dead."

"Hope or Leroy?" 

"Probably a team effort. We should tell Hope by the way. About the bean."

"It's too soon now, babe. But we will. She'll be ecstatic." Emma smiles. 

"I certainly hope so, considering this is what she asks Santa Claus for the last three years."

"Thank you, Killian. For her. And for everything."

Killian leaned to kiss her but Hope’s voice interrupted them even before their lips touched. 

"DAD! You both are being bad now. You can kiss each other when we are home, okay?"

Impeccable timing, their daughter. Killian opened the back door and leaned to kiss her head. "Sorry, little love. You are totally right."

Emma was already in the driver's seat and Killian climbed in the seat across her. 

"She is so gonna give us a lecture for this." Emma whispered mostly to herself. 

"Well, love, if my memory serves me correctly there is no storm we can't outrun." 

She laughed and started the car as Killian turned on the siren. 

"Not even the hurricane that is our daughter."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading <3 I hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> the quote Killian says to Emma about his first purpose in life always being to make little Hope laugh is something my dad told me years later when I asked him about some of our childhood games. That’s why I wanna dedicate this to my amazing dad who never stops making me smile. Here’s to Killian and all the great dads out there!


End file.
